NHL Buzz: Letang back with Penguins following father's death

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Pittsburgh Penguins

Kris Letang returned to the Penguins on Tuesday after being away for 15 days.
The defenseman had been in Montreal since Jan. 2 following the death of his father, Claude Fouquet. Letang left 12 minutes into an optional practice Tuesday wearing a no-contact jersey after skating on his own for about 35 minutes, as planned.
Letang is day to day with a lower-body injury and will miss his ninth straight game when Pittsburgh plays the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, ESPN+, SN NOW).
"Obviously, he means a lot to our team," coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's part of this family. For him to be back around the group, it was a great feeling for everybody. We're looking forward to him joining us for a game."
Letang was moved from a non-roster status to injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 28. He did not skate during his time away, which began before Pittsburgh's 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston on Jan. 2.
"He skated for close to 50 minutes today," Sullivan said. "That's his first day on the ice in a couple weeks, so we want to make sure we put him in a position to be successful."
Letang missed five games earlier this season after having a stroke, the second of his NHL career, on Nov. 28. He had four points (one goal, three assists) in eight games after returning Dec. 10.
Goalie Tristan Jarry practiced for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic, but is unsure when he'll return.
Defenseman Jeff Petry (upper body) and forward Ryan Poehling (upper body) each took full contact. Petry has been out since Dec. 10; Poehling hasn't played since Dec. 30.
Defenseman Jan Rutta did not practice after missing a 4-3 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday with an upper-body injury. He is day to day. -- Wes Crosby

St. Louis Blues

Vladimir Tarasenko could return from a hand injury sooner than expected.
The forward injured his right hand blocking a shot by Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba in the first period of a 5-2 loss Dec. 31. At the time, the Blues said Tarasenko would be reevaluated in four weeks, but he practiced in full Sunday after skating the past few days on his own. He rotated in on a line with Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad.
"It was really good, he looked really good," coach Craig Berube said. "He was skating well and shooting a little bit, which is a good sign."
Tarasenko, who has 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 34 games this season, did not play against the Ottawa Senators on Monday but could return as early as Thursday against the Nashville Predators.
"He's closer than we're thinking," Berube said. "He looks good. ... He looked really good skating out there. He's not going to have an issue with that.
"We'll see. I don't know. He's got to keep practicing with us and then he'll let us know when he's ready. ... It'll be good for sure to get him back."
Tarasenko and center Ryan O'Reilly, who broke his foot in the same game, have missed the past eight games. St. Louis is 5-3-0 without them. -- Lou Korac

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex Stalock was placed in concussion protocol for the Blackhawks prior to their game against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
"Just bumped in practice yesterday," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "You never know how things react with people, but we're just going to take precaution and put him on that protocol right now and just hopefully it settles down quicker than last time."
Stalock was in concussion protocol from Nov. 1-Dec. 23 after he was injured in a collision with New York Islanders forward Casey Cizikas during a 3-1 loss Nov. 1. He was out most of last week because of a non-COVID related illness and didn't skate until Sunday. He played the final 47:50 of an 8-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday after Petr Mrazek allowed four goals on five shots in the first 12:08.
Stalock is 6-6-1 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 14 games (12 starts) this season.
Mrazek started against the Sabres. Goalie Jaxson Stauber, recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, served as the backup. -- Tracey Myers

Carolina Hurricanes

Pyotr Kochetkov
was reassigned to Chicago of the American Hockey League on Monday.
The goalie is 10-4-5 with a 2.33 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and three shutouts in 19 games (18 starts) with the Hurricanes this season but has lost his past four games (0-3-1, 3.72 GAA, .861 save percentage). That included allowing three goals on 32 shots in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
With Frederik Andersen having returned from injury and Antti Raanta healthy, the Hurricanes had been carrying three goalies.
Andersen missed 29 games with a lower-body injury before returning Thursday and making 21 saves in a 6-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He made 34 saves in a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and is 7-3-0 with a 2.48 GAA and .903 save percentage in 10 games this season.
Raanta is 10-2-3 with a 2.63 GAA, .894 save percentage and two shutouts in 16 games this season. Carolina next plays the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.